In The Shadow of A Shinigami
by WindowChild
Summary: Because if you're me, all you could think when the President surrendered to Kira was: "What would Bartlet have done?"  AU, obviously, and a slightly skewed timeline as well.


A/N: First order of business: ignore the punny nature of the title. I have trouble resisting such temptation.

If you're reading this, chances are you have as eclectic taste in fiction as I do, or have friends just as crazy as mine (_"Abbie, please write me Jed/Light slash! Pretty, pretty, pleeeaaase.") _Well, this isn't _that _(that one's a little too strange even for _me_), but I do plan to have some fun with this.

If you think this is weird, though, trust me – it isn't. This was almost a crossover between Death Note and The Mysterious Benedict Society, because I still can't get over the parallels between the two. (Minor, trope-ish parallels, but I find I don't care too much.)

Anyway. I ignored actual time frames, sort of, and pushed this little story into early season 3 of West Wing, and that sliver of time in Death Note between when Light's memories return and when L dies. Obviously, things are going to be shifted around a teensy bit.

Thank you for clicking on the story link!

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><p>It was early on a Tuesday, the sort of time on the sort of day when everything bad begins.<p>

It was not so long ago that Kira had emerged into the world, after all – and the President's staff had been dealing with their own problems at the time. MS, for one. The running of America, for another. Though the National Security Advisor and FBI had attempted working with Japan's police force, their failure had prompted a nervous pause in their aid to the case.

_What had changed?_

Well, nothing had, and that's what had begun to worry the President. Knowing him he'd been worrying all the while, in his own, multi-tasking way, but now he chose to share his concerns with the senior staff.

He wanted, he said, upon their early-morning arrival, to know what they thought should come next in the government's actions. The matter had long since moved past a simple matter of defense.

"People here don't feel nearly as panicked as the people in Japan, because they know Kira's not watching them in the same way. So long as they don't commit any crimes, they're safe," Josh said. He wanted to explain why the public had not reacted quite so harshly.

"And the news stations have been good about not broadcasting criminals' names internationally?"

"Well, Sir…" Josh paused.

"They're afraid, Sir," Toby said.

"By not handing over the names Kira wants, they make themselves targets," CJ said. "They're worried if they don't publish the names, he'll threaten them instead."

The President looked at each of them in turn, his eyes narrowing in the way he did when he wanted more from someone, or something. "It's almost hard to believe," he said, leaning against his desk. Josh and Sam glanced at one another. CJ's eyes crinkled with concern. "There's someone out there, a single person, who can kill just by seeing someone's face."

"And knowing their name, Sir," Josh interrupted quietly. "According to the reports."

"It's unclear if he needs a name," CJ said.

"And we still have no idea how it works? The American Government has no idea how he does it?"

The senior staffers looked at him, but no one spoke. "No, Sir," Leo answered for them.

"And why haven't we done research?" The President asked. His face was starting to color, the way it did when he was angry, or particularly energetic. It was clear to see that this wasn't a particularly comfortable conversation for anyone.

"Well, we have Sir. But at first it seemed like it was a prank," CJ said. "After all, it's as you said Sir – it's hard to believe."

"Well, now that this has been going on for several months, and people are still dying, I think it's about time we believe it, don't you?" He was close to shouting now. "And are you telling me nobody has _done _anything?"

"They've been trying," Leo said, "as far as we know. Japan has it's police force focused on Kira. And there's a detective working on the case, L. But it's been a while now, and people are getting concerned - "

"Getting concerned? _Getting _concerned? And of course, this L person has yet to make himself visible to the public," the President said, cutting him off. "We all have our faces in the news, on television, but as far as we know Kira's never even seen what L looks like." It was a fair point. As far as they knew, L was not in nearly as much danger as the six people in the oval office. If he didn't reveal his face, how would Kira know who he was?

"And all of the FBI agents we sent were killed," he said. Everyone knew how deeply casualties affected President Bartlet.

"Yes, Sir."

"Leo, " the President roared, a rant burgeoning.

"Perhaps it's best if you and I discuss this later, Sir," Leo said. He looked at the others pointedly, and they thanked the President and exited, back to the less pressing but still necessary tasks at hand.

"Go a little easier on them, will you?" Leo said shortly. "Their jobs are significantly more dangerous than they were before, and it's not as if they're getting paid anymore."

The President was quiet for a moment, his eyes trained sharply on something in the dstance. "What are my options, Leo? We can't meet with Nancy McNally every time Kira kills someone else, not if he's killing so many people a day."

"Well, Sir, at the moment, I don't see what you can do besides ignore it."

"Ignore it?" The President was nodding, but he looked scornful. "We can't challenge him, or we'll be risking lives, and we obviously can't support this. Even if crime rates are down." His brisk mannerisms slowed slightly and he turned back around. "But I want someone to meet with L and find out what he's doing. This has been going on for months and nothing's changed."

"We'll try to arrange that, Sir," Leo said, "but…"

"But what?"

"Well, there isn't a precedent for this," Leo said. "I haven't spoken to L personally before, but from what I've heard, he's a bit unorthodox. He doesn't like meeting with people."

"Well, set it up anyway, will you?"

"With who?"

"With you or with Josh," he said, waving a hand slightly. "Someone we trust."

"Yes, Sir."

"And Leo?" The President smiled slightly. "You know, we still have a re-election to worry about. Maybe I ought to let this become somebody else's problem."

"If only you would, Sir."

"Do you have any good news for me, Leo?" The President asked.

"I think CJ said the Stock Market was up." The two shared a look. "Thank you, Mr. President."

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><p>AN: So, how'd I do? Not only is it my first fanfiction in over a year, but it's my first time writing President Bartlet. I really hope I did a tolerable job with the dialogue – please offer any advice you can on that. Anyway, thank you so much for reading. Reviews would be lovely.


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